Belt-conveyer.



A. B. PRGAL, JB, BELT OONVEYBR.

` Y APPLIGATQN FILED FEB. l1, 1999. @AL meme@ Jan. 10,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES:

A. B. PROL, JB.

BELT GONVEYER.

APPLIOATION FILED 1113.11, 1909.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

gyn?) I Y, j.

wlTNEssES INVENTOR www f r l l -belt onveyers,

entren sfrairns navrant onirica.

,. ARTHUR B. PEDAL, JR., 0F NUTLEY, NEW

NEWIJERSEY, A CORPORATION OF BELT GO., 0F PASSAIC,

JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO ROBINS CCIIVEYITLG4 NEW JERSEY.

BELT convnrnr..

estivi.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jam, 16, i911.

Application filed February 11, i909. Serial No. 477,356.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, turnen B. Pecan, Jr., a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Nutley, county ot Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt Conveyors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingI drawings, forming a part thereof. l

My invent-ion relates to improvements in and particularly to idler pulleys employed for supporting the conveyer pulleys. In the vform oi belt conveyer referred to the belt is maintained in trough like form bybeing supported at intervals by idler pulleys, each set comprising a plurality of pulleys disposedat an angle Wit respect to each other. The pulleys of. each set are usually provided. with stationary bearings, two for each individual pulley in the set so that where from three to five pulleys are employed, as is usual, *from sixl to ten such bearingsy are necessary. in a co-pending application, Serial 466,781 filed December 10, 1908, i have disclosed and claimed a form of idler pulley comprising a plurality of individual meinbers suspensively connected and provided with one pair ot ond thrust bearings for supporting them all, the individuati pulleys being connected together by universal joint means which permits free angular movement but'unyieldingly opposes movement lengthwise of their axes.

In the present application, i have provided a modified form oi flexible coupling means consisting of a short helical spring, the opposite ends otwhich are rigidly secured to the ends of iidjacent pulleys to be connected. In this form ot connection, a certain amount of relative movement between the pulleys longitudinal ot their axes is permitted, and the angles formed between ythe pulleys when running unc er load will thereby be permitted to vary.\ somewhat, proportionately to the load being carried.

In order that my invention may be fully understood., l will now proceed to describe, an embodiment thereof, having reference to the accompanyingdrawings illustrating the same, and will. then point out the novel features in claims.

ln the drawings: front elevation et idler pulley Figure 1 is a view in mechanism Number embodying my invention lwith a cross sectional View of a loaded conveyer belt supported thereby. Fig. 2 is a view in'central longitudinal section through a portion of the idler pulley mechanism. Fig. 3 is a detail view ofla modified form ot bearing. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a further modiiicat-ion of the bearing support.

The idler pulley or supporting mea-ns as a whole, comprises a plurality of individual' 'pulleys 10 of which three are'shown in Fig. 1, a pair of suspension bearings 11 for the end pulley members, and coupling means 12 for connecting the contiguous ends of adjacent pulleys together. The end susension bearings mayl be of any suitable crm, as may be desired, and in the form shown in detail in Fig. 2, such end suspen sion bearings comprise each a box or casing 13 having a spherical face 14 which ts into 'a complementar spherical recess 15 in a bracket 1 6, a'ball race 17 carried by the said casing 13, a similar ball race 18 carried'by a shaft section 19 secured to the end pulley member 10, and anti-friction balls 2O disposed vbetween the two said ball races. The complementary spherical faces 1li and 15 will permit limited angular movements of the pulley with respect to the support, while properly maintaining the hearing itselt' in axial :dint-.ment with the said end pulley member.

in Fig. l have. shown the casing 'l2-Las provided with knife edge projections 21 which tit in a groove 22 in the bracket in .place oi the spherical projection 14 which lits `in the recess 15 in the form shown in Fig. 1. ln this form of bearing, vertical angular movement, only, is permitted instead ot angular movement in every direction as in the form shown in Fig. 2.

ln Fig 4, l have shown a further moditication in which the bearing is supported upon trunnions 23 suitably journaled inthe bracket 1o, and in this form, I have also shown the hearing as including a radial bearing element 24 as well as the end thrust bearing element as in the other figures. have also lshown a stop 25 for limiting the upward movement of the connected pulleymembers so that their upward movement when running unloaded, will be limited.

lhe coupling olmuent 12 comprises ashort soi-tion of helical spring 213, opposite ends 21 -olf which are turned hack upon themselves and then passed through slotted holes QS f in the Webs 29 of the individual pulley members. A retaining pin'BO, conveniently of the split pin type, is passed through the loop formed by the turning back of the ends Q8 upon themselves thereby forming an in- Y expensive and secure connection between the `to permit them to freely rotate at an an le to each other, and that the relative ang es of the pulleys-will be permitted to vary slightly under varying loads owing to the fact vthat `the springs will yield longitudinally as well as flex laterally.

lt will,l of course, be understood that,

` while I have shown three individual pulley members, a greater or less number may be 'v'elnployed as may be found convenient or desirable.

YWhatl claim is: 1. The combination with a plura-llty of unyleldmg pulley members, ot tlexlble loni gitudinal yielding coupling means for connectmg them together, and end thrust sus- ',pe'nsion bearings tor supporting them.

Q. The'con'lbination with a plurality of unyelding pulley members, ot' spring coupling means for connecting them together, and end thrust suspension bearings for supporting them.

3. rlhe combination with a plurality of unyielding pulley members, of helical spring coupling means for connecting them together, and end thrust suspension bearings for supporting them.

Llf'lhe combination with a plurality of pulley members and end thrust suspension bearings Jfor supporting them, oiv a spring coupling for adjacent pulleys, said spring coupling comprising a short section of helical spring, the ends thereot` being turned back upon themselves to form loops, said looped ends being received Within openings in portions of the pulleys, and pins received 4ransversely Within the loops and engaging the pulley portions, substantially 'as set forth.

5. The combination with a plurality of pulley members, of spring couplings for connecting the adjacent ends of contiguous pulley members, each said spring coupling comprising a short section of helical spring, and portions extending vtherefrom at opposite ends in substantially the axial lines of said pulley members, the latter said portions being secured to the pulley members respectively, and end thrust suspension bearings for suspensively supporting the said pulley members.

ARTHUR B. PROAL, JR. l

Titnesses z l). HOWARD HAYWooD, LYMAN S. ANDREWS, Jr. 

